Southeast Impression: The Best Nasi Lemak in Fairfax, VA

Southeast Impression, on the ground floor of Scout on the Circle at 9530 Fairfax Blvd., Fairfax, VA 22031, cooks Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai food in one kitchen, and every dish on its menu is marked with the country it comes from. The restaurant's own menu names the dish to order first: nasi lemak. It is also one of the most decorated Southeast Asian restaurants around Washington. Washingtonian ranked it No. 88 on its 100 Very Best Restaurants list for 2026 after No. 80 in 2025, and Tom Sietsema reviewed it for The Washington Post in October 2024.

Nasi lemak is the best place to start. It is Malaysia's coconut rice plate: steamed coconut rice with crisp anchovy, boiled egg, peanuts, cucumber and the kitchen's house-made sambal. Southeast Impression serves two versions, Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken for $25 and Nasi Lemak with Beef Rendang for $27. The rendang version is the most complete plate on the menu, because it puts the restaurant's slow-cooked beef curry next to the rice, and it is the plate in the first photo.

The most famous showpiece is the Singapore Chili Crab, listed under Chef's Special. The crab is stir-fried with tomato, onion, ginger, shallot, garlic and egg and comes with fried buns for the sauce. Whole crab is market price, and a soft-shell crab version is $39. Washingtonian's 2026 entry describes crisp soft-shells in a rich red sauce with sweet buns for soaking it up. Two other crabs sit beside it: Black Pepper Dungeness Crab at market price and a Thai Chili Crab cluster for $59.

For a single plate, Hainanese Chicken on Rice is $25: poached chicken with garlic and ginger rice and three signature sauces. Beef Rendang on its own is $29, served with steamed coconut rice, and Mutton Curry is $29 with coconut rice and roti. Bak Kut Teh, the Malaysian pork rib soup with herbs, pork belly, shiitake, tofu skin, enoki and fried tofu, is $28.

The noodle section holds the hawker dishes the kitchen is best known for. Char Kway Teow, wide rice noodles in dark soy sauce with shrimp, pork sausage, chive, bean sprout and egg, is $22. Curry Laksa in spicy coconut broth is $25, KL Hokkien Mee and Singapore Hokkien Mee are $25 each, and Thai Khao Soi in yellow curry broth is $24 with chicken or $25 with beef.

Starters are built for sharing. Roti Canai is $13 with dhal or chicken curry dip, Chicken Satay is $13 and Beef Satay is $14, both with peanut sauce. Washingtonian recommends the crab rangoon ($14), the chive pancakes ($11) and the duck wrap rolled in roti ($16). The Appetizer Platter at $29 covers beef and chicken satay, shrimp rolls, fried wontons, spring rolls and chive pancakes.

Save room for pandan. The Pandan Castella Cake with pandan custard and coconut flakes is $10, and Washingtonian calls it the dessert not to miss. Pandan Creme Brulee is $9 and Mango Sticky Rice is $12. The bar pours twelve original cocktails at $16 each, including the Chlorophyll (coconut fat-washed Roku gin, Domaine de Canton, pandan syrup and lime) and the CNX Macchiato (vanilla vodka, Thai coffee, caramel, salted egg and Milo powder).

Hours are Monday to Thursday 12 to 3 pm and 4:30 to 10 pm, Friday 12 to 3 pm and 4:30 to 11 pm, Saturday 12 to 11 pm and Sunday 12 to 10 pm. On weekdays lunch and dinner are separate services. Parking is free in the garage directly behind the restaurant, with more on the Giant side and on the street. The phone number is 703-865-4884.

Reservations are on Resy and takeout is ordered online through Toast, both linked from southeastimpression.com. Birthdays, company dinners and catering trays are booked through the catering page or hello@southeastimpression.com, and the family-style menu works for groups of twenty. The restaurant's site lists a 4.6 out of 5 Google rating across 659 reviews.

Two more locations are on the way. Ashburn is under construction at Bram Quarter in Brambleton, 23710 Schooler Plaza, Suite 180, Ashburn, VA 20148, and Rockville is taking over the former Spot Asian Food Hall at Rockville Town Center, 255 N. Washington St., Rockville, MD 20850. For now, reservations and online ordering are for the Fairfax dining room only.